The majority of these are in the category of airfare and the difference between contract fares (YCA), capacity controlled contract fares (-CA) and non-refundable fares. Frequent travelers understand the differences pretty well, but the vast majority of federal travelers are infrequent travelers and do not always understand what the requirements are for the types of airfares they can select. In addition to this, travelers often think they can take business or first class fares.

There are limited reasons in the FTR where this can be acceptable, but in general they are not allowed for the routine traveler. Some of you may have seen this issue on the news this week where the General Accounting Office conducted a study of first class and business class trips. The result was some cases were found where there was either no valid FTR justification to take these type of flights, or there was fraud in taking them.

Many of the people taking them were higher graded government officials and as a result of spending more taxpayer money than was necessary, GAO recommended in their report that the FTR should be amended to institute better controls in requesting business class and first class fares. As you saw in this section of the class, travelers can fly business or first class when the government is not paying for it.

This is generally done by travelers using their frequent flier mileage points. Even though this is permissable, those travelers in the GAO report were not doing this, and even if they had done so, they were so high up the ladder that even the appearance of flying first class for them may not be worth the publicity.

We strive to educate our travelers in the correct procedures for flying for the government. And as can be seen, sometimes these points can make the national news.

Here is the link in the event you want to read the GAO Report:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071268.pdf

By Daniel Carozza

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily relfect the position of the Bureau of the Public Debt, or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.”

In order to accomplish this, we have a Departmental travel contact for the agency’s Bureaus that assits. After that, we verify with Civilian Board of Contract Appeals that adjudicates travel claims. Cases are submitted to a panel of judges for case determination. Ruling can be cited on decided cases as a basis for us or any agency to substiantiate or deny a travel claim.

Another recourse is to contact the General Services Administration directly since they promulgate the FTR.

Our Helpdesk staff are able to answer general travel policy questions from the FTR and/or agency policy. Since we have about 40 customers, this is a real challenge to keep all the separate agency items understandable for our agents. We also maintain a smaller staff to research complex travel policy questions as well as to ensure travel policy is correctly presented in our E-Gov Travel system. This area also creates and updates travel policy information on our customer websites as things change.

By Daniel Carozza

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bureau of the Public Debt, or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.”

When we were in the initial pilot format, and the problems became more acute and obvious shortly after we required mandatory use of the system agency-side, we discovered several problems in our internal practices.  Many of our managers, especially those in the program areas, are here only as temporary personnel.  These interim managers do not understand appropriations law, government accounting, and they have no interest in complying with the FAR or the FTR.  Civil service staff often understood the rationale for the regulations and agency processes, but had a difficult time enforcing compliance when their management was telling them to do otherwise. There was a strong underlying culture of “make-it-work” and pro-forma paperwork (in some cases no paperwork until the travel vouchers were presented for payment).

Some of the problems discovered had been suspected for years by accounting personnel who did not have the political influence to correct them within the organization.  These issues included such things as traveling without evidence of advance approval for the travel (no written and approved orders); and violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act (traveling without funds committed and obligated in advance of expenditure by an authorizing official);   A significant amount of the organizational resistance to the implementation of the ETS, in my opinion, came not from just the complexity of the ETS, but also from the enforced standardization and compliance with the letter of the law and internal regulations.

Mandatory use of the ETS has successfully standardized travel practices and forced  cultural change at the agency that can only improve financial integrity and compliance with federal regulations, and the internal policies that require us all to be good custodians of the taxpayers’ money.

by Julie Speers

Federal travelers are required to use a Travel Management Service (TMS) and their ETS. In 2003 the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) were published to state in Chapter 301-50:3 that travelers must use the ETS once it becomes available through their TMS.  However, for reasons beyond my control or understanding there remain individuals and groups who appear to continue to follow business as usual with no regard to the change in the FTR.  And, until someone with a lot more importance or influence than I have puts a stop to it, the practice will never change.

The ETS is the current way of doing business in the government. In November, 2003, three competitively bid E-Gov Travel Service Contracts were awarded to: CW Government Data Systems Corp (EDS), Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (NGMS).

Over my 20+ years in the travel field for the government; I have seen many changes.  However, I believe the current ETS can be a highly effective way of doing business IF and WHEN we can train, convince, or somehow force the employees out there who are resisting the change to utilize the system.  As long as there remain exceptions (as in employees) we will never have a fully effective system.

The current ETS is not designed to handle the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) vouchers, so these will continue to be processed manually at this time.

I believe that as Bureau Administrator for the ETS, it is very important for me to maintain an open line of communication with both the Department and our contracted ETS vendor.

Having a good working relationship is important no matter what level you are, or who you are working with.  In my position, it is extremely important as customer service is my main concern.   As travel administrator, I am the help desk for my office.  I also have Regional administrators who forward issues they cannot resolve up to me.  I serve as the liaison between the Regional administrators and the Department and ETS Vendor.

The relationship you build with your ETS vendor is a very important relationship.  We count on them to provide us the flights, hotels, and rental cars that we need to conduct our business; at the lowest possible prices.  If you do not have a good relationship with your vendor, how do you expect them to be willing to work with you on getting flights to small offices loaded into the GDS?  Or to make programming quirks or changes to enhance the system to better suit our needs?

Sure, there are times and issues that we all wish would get resolved, we as government employees feel the ETS vendors just aren’t listening to us on the priority of some of the issues, however; after taking this course, I now understand that the vendor is probably sitting over there with a list just as long as ours trying to figure out how to make everything work for everyone.

If you have a good working relationship with the E-Gov vendors TMC team, they will be more willing to work with you in resolving your help desk issues, and to resolve questions that they get from our employees.  Gradually; by working together, the issues and problems will decrease, which means the call volume for both of you decreases.

The ETS is a constantly evolving system, as we mold and modify it to make it compatible with our day-to-day operations.  Of course, the travel industry is constantly evolving as is government reporting regulations, so the ETS system must continue to be a work in progress to keep up with the changes demanded of it and its users.  Not only are we making demands for changes to keep up for current reporting requirements, we are preparing for implementation of a new financial system, so our ETS vendor is having to work with us on that as well.

Presently, we are in the testing mode for the next version of our ETS system, which I hope implements easier than the first.  So far; it appears to be more intuitive and user friendly which is what our travelers were asking for.

Shirley Keller

“The comments presented here are mine personally and do not reflect the views of either my agency or the government.”

At our agency, Travelers are responsible for making sure that their receipts are attached correctly and the attachment is legible.  All receipts for air, lodging, rental car, and any single expense greater than $75 must be attached in the travelers’ ETS travel document.  Within our ETS there is an automatic pre-audit functionality built in which alerts the document preparer/traveler in the event that a receipt has not been uploaded.

Our ETS users have the capability of either scanning or faxing in their receipts.  Either option is a very easy process.  For faxing, the user is required to print a cover sheet from the ETS.  This cover sheet includes a unique bar code, which identifies to the ETS which document the receipts are to be attached to.  The user simply places their receipts behind this ‘bar coded’ cover sheet and faxes the information.  The second option allows users to scan in their receipts.  I personally find scanning to be the easier option for me, mainly since receipts come in all shapes and sizes, I find it easier to scan my receipts at my local shared scanner, then browse and upload the file within the receipts section of my ETS.

by Brian Shears

Corporate Procurement

The basis of most corporate travel negotiations is a trade-off between incremental market share to the supplier and discounted pricing to the corporation.  When negotiating contracts, corporations must be able to demonstrate their ability to shift market share to a given supplier.

Corporate Program Management

This ability to shift market share depends upon proactive monitoring and management of travel programs.  Key areas that suppliers look to for evidence of effective program management include:

• Supplier management – ensuring suppliers abide by contract requirements and assist the corporation in promoting use of the preferred program.
• Demand management – compelling travelers to use the preferred programs via established tools, policies and processes.
• Consolidated Data – Consolidated company-wide travel data, which includes booked data, credit card data, travel agency data, and supplier data as appropriate.
• Performance Monitoring – Best practice is to establish centralized management of travel programs either by an individual (typically a Corporate Travel Manager) or by a team (Travel Council).  This team communicates the program, trains travelers, and writes policy.  In addition, they determine Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor program usage, establish corrective action plans and drive continuous improvement.
• Policy – The Travel Council sets and enforces travel policy.

I depict high-level corporate travel program components in the following diagram.

Federal Procurement

Now let us review travel in the federal market.  Although the government is not able to provide suppliers with the level of travel data put forth by most corporations, the government is proactive in procuring travel.  The government has preferred programs for all major areas of travel including airfare (CPP), lodging (FedRooms) and car rental (Rental Car Program).  Although rates are not negotiated in the truest sense (an exchange of volume for price discounts), rates are pre-determined and auditable.

Federal Program Management

The government has worked diligently in the recent past to establish and implement comprehensive travel programs.  It is helpful to review government travel with respect to the same categories provided in the corporate market above.  An assessment of the current state of government travel shows:

• Supplier management – GSA conducts audits of the GDS to ensure suppliers are correctly loading negotiated rates.  In addition, GSA staff regularly meet with suppliers to discuss future program enhancements.
• Demand management – Most Federal Agencies have installed and implemented one of three E-Gov Travel Systems.  These systems provide federal agencies the tool and structure needed to guide travelers towards use of preferred travel programs.
• Consolidated Data – Currently the government is unable to consolidate government-wide travel data.  However, GSA has a contract in place to compile data through implementation of the Business Travel Intelligence system, and meaningful results are expected in the near future.
• Performance Monitoring – By current design, there is no centralized body within the Federal government that is responsible for monitoring performance or any overall travel program management.  While GSA serves as a central body for procuring travel, performance to policy and compliance to preferred programs are left to individual federal agencies.  In practice, individual agencies do little to ensure usage of preferred travel programs.  This shortcoming breaks the continuum of procurement and program management.  Because future negotiations are heavily dependent upon historical program usage, this lack of proactive oversight significantly reduces the government’s ability to leverage their travel volume.
• Policy – GSA and DoD establish and set travel policy via the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) respectively.  In addition Standardized Regulations (DSSR) are issued by the Department of State for foreign travel.

I show the same travel components within the context of government travel in the following diagram.  As shown here, because the government does not proactively monitor program performance, the ability to leverage travel volume in future procurements is limited.

Summary

The federal government has taken great strides in developing a comprehensive travel program.  The government has workable solutions in place for supplier management, demand management, and travel policy.  Although consolidated government-wide travel data is not currently available, GSA does have a contract in place to provide it.  The biggest remaining challenge is centralized management of government-wide travel programs.  While a centralized approach to travel management would require that federal agencies turn over a small amount of control to a central body, the benefits of cost savings and higher traveler satisfaction would far outweigh this perceived loss of control.

Recommendation

I recommend that the federal government establish a government-wide travel program management office within GSA for the specific purpose of managing (monitoring performance, enforcing compliance, revising policy, etc) travel programs across the federal government.  Giving GSA the authority to proactively manage travel on behalf of all federal agencies would mimic corporate best practices in that it would align procurement with program management functions.  Without a centralized body managing government travel, the federal government will never be able to effectively leverage their $15+ Billion in annual travel spend.

by Ted Schuerman

The FTR mandates that all federal travel should be made using a Travel Management Center (TMC), and paid for utilizing the government issued charge card. This means that the traveler is not permitted to charge official expenses on a personal card. This also allows for the government to get the contract city pair fares which you cannot get on a personal card, and allows for accurate reporting for the government.

The FTR covers which receipts are required to be attached to your voucher; they consist of the airline receipt, the hotel receipt, and an individual item over $75. It also covers the miscellaneous expenses which are allowed to be claimed. In my 21 years in working for my Bureau in the travel team, believe me; travelers will try to get the government to pay for an array of items. Although the FTR mandates which expenses can be claimed; it is the responsibility of the approving official to ensure that only allowable expenses are on the reimbursable voucher. In our agency only random vouchers are audited through stat sampling.

Most agencies have Agency or even Bureau policy to further explain or provide additional guidance or policies. Some may even be more restrictive than the FTR.

I personally like the FTR in the present format much better than I did in the old format. I believe it is much easier to find what you are looking for if you need to copy and paste something to a traveler or approving official/manager.

By: Shirley Keller

“The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”

By:  Scott Carver

Perhaps the most important advantage of booking travel through the TMC is that unused tickets are fully refundable.  This is not usually the case when booking directly through the airline’s website or through a third-party website, such as those mentioned earlier.  Also, the systems for non-traditional travel agencies do not have government contracts because their systems do not make accommodations for the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and do not provide adequate protection for the traveler’s personal information, as mandated by the Privacy Act and other provisions that protect government travelers.  Additionally, booking through the TMC and using an ETS, such as GovTrip, provides an additional layer of security as far as being compliant with the FTR.  Travel services such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz do not take the FTR into account; therefore, the traveler runs a higher risk of violating the FTR.

By Mark Hartshorn

These are my opinions and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.

The airfares offered under this program are discounted considerably off comparable commercial fares–saving the federal government millions of dollars annually.

In addition to the price savings, the Airline City Pair Program has many features which allow government travelers all the flexibility possible in planning official travel. The benefits of this service include:

• Fares priced on one-way routes permitting agencies to plan multiple destinations
• No advance purchase required
• No minimum or maximum length stay required
• Tickets fully refundable
• Last seat availability
• No blackout periods
• Stable prices enabling travel budgeting
• Dual fares availability

For Airline City Pair contract airfares, visit Airfares (City Pair Search).  The shortcut for this page is www.gsa.gov/citypairsearch.

I’m sure in time with our continued efforts of training and information sharing the knowledge, benefits and ease of using City Pair fares will be an automatic need and want of the all Federal Travelers.  GSA and other agencies keep a close eye on the Federal Traveler’s needs and wants and their continued efforts to award contracts that will satisfy the Federal Traveler’s purposes will be rewarded by all.  One thing is for sure, the internet based discount web sites cannot assure the confidence in their reservations that GSA can.  GSA understands the Federal Traveler’s requirements in following the FTR and their need to be advantageous to the government.  The flexibility in the City Pair fare extends the secure knowledge of no hidden fees when making multiple changes due to last minute schedules and needs that a majority of Federal Travelers often experience because of their job requirements.  Sometimes I think the average non-Federal Traveler would like to have that security as well, to know that if/when their schedules or needs change they won’t automatically cringe or stress themselves on what the cheapest thing to do would be.  Life is too short to have to worry over excessive fees if you don’t have to.

Another great benefit with having City Pair fares is that these are available in the eTravel system designated for your agency.  Let’s be realistic there are times when the systems are not up-to-date with all the information at every possible second of the day, but have been proven to be pretty accurate when the market and economy are both steady.  Occasionally an awarded contract has been rescinded or cancelled but I notice that it is usually just a certain flight and there are usually other flights at different times of the day with the same airline still in effect.  Sometimes it seems that there are not enough awards for where and when you want to travel, but there are reports and studies done on what locations were in demand.  Offering too many awards for one location can result in the reservation prices to increase; we have to remember that the more they spend on additional flights to the same destinations the more it costs the traveler.

I know from personal experience I was so grateful for the city pair fare in saving me additional

By:  Debra Hardman

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Bureau of the Government or my Agency.”